Name
by RadiantBeam
Summary: Azula and Ty Lee meet for the first time as children. And many years later, Ty Lee never forgot that she was the first person who knew Azula's name. One-shot friendship fic


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Avatar or the Goo Goo Dolls. (sob) Dammit.

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**Name**

"Jeez, what a bunch of wimps."

The soft snort of disgust made six-year-old Ty Lee lift her eyes from her sore, throbbing ankle to focus her eyes on her mysterious savior, who, in her young opinion, had practically appeared from thin air. All Ty Lee could remember was those mean boys pushing her down and pulling her hair, and the next thing she knew she felt the heat of fire and heard them cry out in fear.

And now this girl stood before her, about her age, with dark hair—she stood tall, almost like a prince out of a fairy tale, and Ty Lee felt her breath catch.

The first thing she noticed when the girl turned to look at her was how gold her eyes were… a unique dark gold she had never really seen before.

_And even though the moment passed me by  
__I still can't turn away  
_'_Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose  
__Got tossed along the way  
__And letters that you never meant to send  
__Get lost or thrown away_

Not sure whether she was supposed to speak up at this point or just keep her mouth shut, Ty Lee swallowed and tried to ignore the pain in her ankle, curving her lips in a weak smile. "Hi," she whispered, praying she didn't sound ready to start crying.

"Didn't it ever occur to you to try and _fight back_?"

The dark-haired girl said this bluntly and without much emotion in her tone, but the raised eyebrow and the look in her eyes said it all. Unable to piece together a decent excuse Ty Lee bit her lip, pulling her legs up to her chest, ignoring the flash of pain that shot through her leg as she felt hot tears pricking her eyes.

"Hey." Dark gold eyes widened slightly. "Are you crying?"

"No! Of course not!"

Ty Lee was lying. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks.

_And now we're grown up orphans that never knew their names  
__We don't belong to no one  
__That's a shame  
__You could hide beside me  
__Maybe for awhile  
__And I won't tell no one your name  
__And I won't tell 'em your name_

"You _are._" She could hear the surprise in the other girl's voice, though she didn't dare lift her head to look at her. "You _are _crying, aren't you?"

Ty Lee sniffled in response, lifting her hand to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand; and was shocked when a small, warm hand closed over her wrist, gently pulling her arm down so she and her savior were eye-to-eye. Discomfort and something that was close to guilt but not quite it swirled in the other girl's golden eyes. "I'm sorry," the other girl murmured. "I didn't… I didn't mean to make you cry. So don't… uh… don't… cry anymore, okay? Please? 'Cause I know a lot of things… 'cept how to make people stop crying."

She looked both guilty and uncomfortable at the sight of Ty Lee's tears, and with a shaky smile the brown-haired girl nodded, wiping at her eyes one last time when the golden-eyed girl let go of her hand. "Okay," she whispered.

"Okay." The other girl repeated this, rocking back on her heels, and almost seemed to be smiling. "That's good."

Charmed by her company, Ty Lee sat up slightly and tried to rise when the other girl got to her feet; only to yelp and crumble to the ground again a moment later as pain shot hotly from her ankle through her leg, reminding her of her previous encounter with the boys.

_Scars are souvenirs you never lose  
__The past is never far  
__Did you lose yourself somewhere out there?  
__Did you get to be a star?  
__Don't it make you sad to know that life  
__Is more than who we are?_

"What's wrong?"

The other girl was next to her in a heartbeat, her eyes dark with confusion and something akin to worry; Ty Lee managed to smile despite the pain, not wanting her new friend to worry. "It's nothing," she managed. "Just my ankle. Those boys… they, uh, pulled my hair and pushed me over, and when I did my leg twisted, so…" She looked at her ankle and shrugged. "I guess I hurt it."

"They hurt you?"

"It's all right… they're gone now, anyway. You stopped them from hurting me even more."

The golden-eyed girl blinked, obviously surprised by this tidbit of information; after a moment, she knelt down in front of Ty Lee. "Well, then," she said over her shoulder. "Come on."

"What?"

"You're hurt, right? At my house, we have a nurse. She could look at you and help you out. You can't walk… so it makes more sense if I carry you. If I leave you alone again, those cowards might come back."

_You grew up way too fast  
__And now there's nothing to believe  
__And reruns all become our history  
__A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio  
__And I won't tell no one your name  
__And I won't tell 'em your name_

Ty Lee blinked for a moment; after awhile, she gave in and scrambled onto the other girl's back, carefully and timidly wrapping her arms around her neck. The girl gave her a boost and started to walk. "You're pretty light, do you know that?" she said after a moment.

"No… am I choking you? I can loosen up if I am."

"I'm fine."

They walked that way in silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts; in a burst of courage, Ty Lee leaned forward, whispering into her companion's ear. "Um…"

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

The dark-haired girl paused in surprise, twisting around to gaze into Ty Lee's eyes; her golden eyes were once again wide, and a little surprised. "Name?" she repeated.

"Yeah, name. Mine's Ty Lee." She grinned. "What's yours?"

"Uh…"

The dark-haired girl was torn for a moment, debating what to tell Ty Lee; after a moment, she took a deep breath and curved her lips in a small smile, turning away and beginning to walk again. "My name's Azula," she said over her shoulder.

"Azula? Huh." Ty Lee smiled. "That's a pretty name. You think we can be friends?"

"Yeah."

Many years later, when they were both fifteen, Ty Lee would always remember how everyone else knew Azula by her title… but she was the only person who knew the Princess by her name.

_I think about you all the time  
__But I don't need the same  
__It's lonely where you are  
__Come back down  
__And I won't tell 'em your name_

**The End**

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I realize I'm messing a bit with the continuity of the show a bit here, assuming everyone in the FN knows who Azula is... but it was a cute idea, at least in my mind. There aren't nearly enough Chibi!Azula/Chibi!Ty Lee fics.

Read and review, please!


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